


lighten up

by Mow



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Brad the Pit, Canon Divergent, Fluff, M/M, Robert and Aaron can't keep their hands off each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 06:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20925644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mow/pseuds/Mow
Summary: Robert gets his family a dog.





	lighten up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [their_dark_materials](https://archiveofourown.org/users/their_dark_materials/gifts).

> Title comes from The Goo Goo Dolls' [_Come to Me_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8VMYLniuDk), which is not about dogs but could definitely be about robron! lol
> 
> Late note: So, after I'd already written and posted this, I found out that Pitbulls are banned in the UK. I've talked to a science teacher I trust about that and she says that they are indeed dangerous for a number of reasons, mainly their genetic history. BUT now that this story is done, I didn't want to have to change the breed or lose the _Brad the Pit_ joke, so I'm gonna take some "creative license" or wtv and ignore all that this time. ;; I hope you guys don't mind! Also, thanks to everyone in this fandom for being so kind. Your reading and commenting on this means a lot to me!

xxx

It happens after they watch _ Once upon a time in Hollywood_. Or is it during the movie?

Robert clearly recalls the look on Aaron's face every time the brown beast appeared on screen - eyes wrinkling at the corners, the softest of smiles, so brief Robert shouldn't have caught them. But that's the thing with the Tarantino movies, sometimes everything goes quiet on screen and you can clearly hear your husband sighing next to you.

At least it was not because of Brad Pitt. Or was it?

Anyway, the idea strikes him and Robert just-- Liv also wants a dog, so really, he’ll be killing two birds and all that--

"Out with it," Aaron says, or tries to as his mouth is full of chips. Ugh, but Robert loves him.

"What," is his reply, and he doesn't sound innocent enough, never does, because Aaron actually stops eating to throw this look at him.

"You've got that scheming look on your face. And I'm up to here with clearing up your messes."

Robert opens his mouth to argue, but Aaron's looking at him with something akin to endearment, so he lets it pass. "You loved Brandy, didn't ya?"

Aaron actually beams--beams!!!--at that, and should Robert be jealous of a damn dog? A _ movie _ dog? 

"She was something else. I mean, that final scene? Who wouldn't love a dog saving everybody's arse like that?"

Robert chuckles. "Yeah. That was fun. But Leo, in the pool--"

"Yeah."

"And Brad, I mean, I hope I'm half as fit when I'm his age."

Aaron snorts. "You wish," and he stuffs his face with chips again. Sucks at the tip of his thumb as if it won't get covered in salt and vinegar again in a second. But then he notices Robert's stare, and his mouth lifts up, eyes glinting knowingly. "Thinking he's never been half as handsome as you, innit?"

Robert shakes his head, cheeks warm as he smiles. "Careful, husband. That almost sounds like a compliment."

"Can't have that," Aaron says, still looking at him, the near smile still there, his shin now against Robert's under the table. Not by accident. "But seriously, Rob, what is it this time?"

And Robert loves him so much. Wants Aaron to keep looking and smiling at him like that, like not all of his ideas are so bad. Like he's waiting for Robert to let him in on a secret. 

"Let's go home," Robert says instead, though he does make sure to layer his voice with all the things he's willing for Aaron to see later, in their bedroom.

xxx

It’s a couple of days later, Liv sprawled on the living room floor while she types on her phone, books and sheets spread around her all forgotten. Robert smiles at her as he perches himself on the couch’s arm. “You done with school work?”

Liv rolls her eyes and huffs, a biting remark ready on her tongue, but Robert cuts her off, hands held up in peace. 

“I just wanna know if you’ve got a few hours to spare. Help me out with something, but I promise it’s fun.”

Liv’s dark brown eyes keep staring at him like Robert’s grown a second head. But then her face softens and she grins at him. “Okay,” she says, gets up and goes to the front door.

“_Liv_,” Robert calls her back. She throws an impatient look at him while Robert looks pointedly at all the stuff she’s left on the floor.

“Fun does not include that,” she mutters under her breath, but Robert decides to let it pass ‘cause she at least does it--cleans up her mess--and also because he doesn’t want to have a row with her right now. 

.

.

.

Robert should have had his phone in hand for this. Liv goes from astonished to excited and back to disbelief again, but all the while her eyes remain focused on the puppy that is now biting at one of her fingers. It proceeds to try and crawl its way up her wrist and fails, falls and rolls over and goes back to licking Liv’s fingers, and she lets out this quiet chuckle that has Robert smiling because--well, he’s doing the right thing, isn’t he? Who knew that a clumsy pile of dark brown fur and a pair of gray-blue eyes could make Liv look so happy.

Vanessa claps her hands together and beams at them. “So I guess this one will do?” she asks Robert, who lifts a shoulder and throws the question at Liv with a look, though he already knows the answer, judging by how Liv completely ignores them to lift the puppy up and into her arms. It wiggles around and tries to climb up to her neck and she chuckles again, a little louder this time.

“Aaron’s gonna go nuts,” she tells Robert, whose eyebrows raise in mocking.

“You sure that’s only Aaron?” he winks at Vanessa, who muffles a laugh and goes fetch things for the puppy that she puts on the counter. There’s a package of food and another of disposable training pads, some chewing toys, pots for food and water and even a dark blue, round bolster bed with a matching blanket.

“This is all on Paddy,” she says, and Robert’s relieved because the dog alone has already cost a lot. He had almost given up when he heard how much a Pitbull pup was, but after talking to Paddy--who had been almost as excited as Liv when Robert first mentioned the idea, and also been surprisingly good at keeping the news from Aaron--he had decided to do it anyway, by paying it in installments. The benefit far surpassed the cost, or so he has been telling himself. Aaron, his love for dogs notwithstanding, might still bite Robert’s head off for the spend. 

“He’s already vaccinated,” Vanessa says, “but for the next few months he’s gonna need to take more shots and meds. I’ll text you the schedule after I’ve prepared his care chart. And if you decide to neuter him, it’s better to do so while he’s still a pup.”

“Good thing he can’t understand ya,” Liv says, holding the puppy closer to herself. Vanessa laughs out loud this time, and Robert finds himself smiling at Liv. If she’s already this protective of the pup, Aaron’s reaction will be priceless.

.

.

.

They decide to take the dog straight home instead of stopping by at the scrapyard. Robert’s already trying to set some rules with Liv.

“Don’t let it go on the couch or it might pee there. Or worse,” he shouts from the ground floor bathroom, where he’s placed one training pad half on the floor, half against the wall. He knows it’s not going to be that easy and there’s a lot of cleaning ahead of them, but they’ll train the pup along the way. Maybe the dog could also sleep here while they figure out if it will sleep outside or in the house once it’s big enough to be left alone. Vanessa told them the pup probably won’t do stuff in the same place where it sleeps, though. “Liv,” he calls, going back to the living room.

“Heard ya. And you gotta stop calling him ‘it,’” she says with a roll of her eyes. “He’s part of the family now. And we gotta give him a name.”

“Don’t you wanna wait for Aaron to arrive?”

“I just texted him. He’s on his way.”

“You haven’t told--”

“‘Course I didn’t tell him. I wanna see his face too,” she grins wickedly. Robert would hug her if he didn’t know better.

The puppy is growling around a rubber bone that looks bigger than it--him, Robert silently corrects himself. Liv bends down to take it from him, play fights him for the bone a few seconds before throwing it at the other side of the room. The pup runs after it and then growls again, biting at the toy instead of bringing it back. Robert hears himself chuckle just as the front door opens and Aaron appears--

“Close the door!” Liv shouts, because the pup has moved in that direction, but it stops to bite and pull at Aaron’s shoe strings instead. 

Aaron’s still frowning at Liv before he notices where all the noise is coming from. “Wha-- hey!” he pulls his foot back, which the dog must take as a sign that they’re playing tug of war. The growls get louder and he kind of jumps at Aaron’s foot while pulling at the string that much harder. Aaron’s laughter is one of surprise and wonder, and he crouches down to take the pup in his hands and untangle the string from his tiny but sharp teeth. “Whose dog is this?” he asks Liv, just before the pup bites at his fingers. “No, don’t do that,” but Aaron’s voice sounds soft as he holds the pup up and close to his face. “You don’t wanna be a bad boy, do ya?” but he laughs again as the pup tries to wriggle its way free. “You’re gonna fall if you keep that up!”

Robert hasn’t heard Aaron talking this much at once since the last time Seb visited. He’s aware of the fond look on his own face as Aaron looks at him and Liv, still waiting for an answer.

“He’s ours,” Liv announces eagerly. She picks up the toy bone to throw it across the room. Aaron lets go of the overly excited pup and the latter races after the bone again, Aaron's eyes now questioning Robert.

“Yeah,” he says simply. 

Aaron smiles, but then he frowns again, bemused. “We haven’t talked about this,” he ends up saying, though it doesn’t sound like a complaint.

“We _have_,” Liv corrects him. 

Aaron shakes his head once, his frown deepening. “A long time ago, yeah, but-- where did this even come from? Rob?” he looks at his husband, his name a demand for explanation.

“Okay, so, I wanted to surprise you,” Robert says. “And I thought you’d like it, but maybe I was wrong.”

“Wait, that’s not--I’m just--you did surprise me, yeah,” Aaron makes a face, but then he smiles a little as he looks at the pup that's now playing with Liv on the floor. “Do you have any idea how much this little pup will _ eat _ ? It’s gonna be twice as big in a blink, and then it'll keep growing, and it’ll destroy the house if we’re not careful.” He pauses. “Or _ even _ if we are.”

Robert’s a little bewildered that Aaron’s trying to be the voice of reason in this. A little endeared, too. “We’re gonna train him.”

“Right,” Aaron’s brows are still furrowed though, his tone doubtful. “'Cause that's so easy. _ You’re _ gonna train him? You and Liv?” 

“And you,” Robert says, trying to sound like he’s asking, hoping that Aaron will accept the dog and all the duties that come with it. 

Aaron makes a face again, but he's got this look in his eyes--mischief and softness disguised under a stubborn frown that will soon go away. Robert's glad he knows him well enough to be reassured by that. 

Robert goes to him, gives him a late welcome-home peck on the cheek. Aaron looks at him sideways, but then his mouth turns up and he offers his mouth for Robert, who kisses it through a smile of his own. 

"Ugh, gross," Liv mutters, even though she's not even looking at them, hands full with the energetic pup. 

Robert ignores her in favor of circling Aaron's waist with one arm, a kiss to his temple before resting his forehead on the side of Aaron's. "Tell me I didn't fuck up." 

Aaron snorts. "You idiot," he says, but he grabs at Robert's arm holding him and squeezes it before resting his hand there. "'Course I like it. It's just--it's a lot, it's gonna take time and money and work, and-- weren't we meant to be saving up for a baby?"

"We were. We are," Robert rubs at his back. "But we can do both, can't we? And look at your sister," he adds in a whisper, "she's finally acting like a proper kid instead of an _ abhorrecent _ for once."

Aaron slaps at his arm for that. But his eyes are filled with contentment as he looks at Liv. "So it's gonna be what, four kids I gotta take care of now? Liv, Seb, the dog, _ you _\--"

Robert nuzzles at his cheek. Lowers his voice even further, "You already take care of me alright," and gives him another peck.

There's this brief moment where Aaron tenses under his touch, and Robert can feel, can hear him swallowing. He smiles and looks at Aaron, who nods at the stairs behind them. 

"Either you go or I'll go," Liv warns, and Robert chuckles, follows Aaron's lead before his sister ruins the mood.

.

.

.

Later, they come back downstairs to find Liv sitting at the kitchen table, everything set for tea. There are two boxes of pizza on the counter and the oven is on. 

At Robert's puzzled face, Aaron waves his phone at him and grins. "I asked her to order tea for us while you were in the shower." He winks at Liv, who drops her phone to shoot them a look before getting up to wash her hands. She takes the pizzas out of their boxes to put them on trays to reheat. The smell of mozzarella and pepperoni wafts around the kitchen, making Robert realize just how hungry all the upstairs fun has made him.

"I was ready to eat these myself," she mutters, letting them hear it on purpose. Aaron's neck reddens, but Robert doesn't regret it for a minute. Liv would have already eaten if she was that hungry; Aaron still fusses over her even though she's capable of taking care of herself, as she likes to remind them so often.

They sit at the table, and for a moment Robert wonders at how quiet the house is, though the reason soon becomes clear.

"Where's the dog?" Aaron asks, looking around at the floor. 

Liv nods to her right, puts a hand to her lips as if they need to be shushed. Robert looks at Aaron and sees that he was about to make some kind of sound, which he’s certainly gonna tease his husband for later. Though the pup does look cute, Robert might admit to himself, now that he’s finally run out of energy. Sleeping with his head on the bed and the body on the floor. 

“So, what shall we call him?" Liv looks expectantly at them, but her eyes tell Robert she's got a name already. She's probably been thinking about it while the two of them were too busy upstairs. 

“What would you like to call him?” Aaron asks, after exchanging a glance with Robert.

"Robert told ya how he got the idea for the dog yet?”

Aaron looks at the puppy and then at Robert. His eyes are full of mirth even as he shakes his head at his husband. “Don’t tell me it’s because of the movie.”

Robert shrugs helplessly, but despite the laughter that follows, Aaron’s eyes are gentle on him.

“You muppet,” Aaron says, grabbing at his forearm to give it a squeeze that softens the blow. “The pitbull in the movie was a girl, though,” he says to Liv.

“But she was owned by Brad... _ Pitt _...” she makes the pause on purpose, looking at Aaron to see if he’ll get it.

Aaron laughs again. “I don’t know which one of you two is worse.”

"Robert, obviously,” Liv says, not missing a beat. “But see, we could call him Brad the Pit.”

Even Robert chuckles at that. “Brad the Pit,” he repeats, and then all three of them are laughing.

xxx

The first few weeks are a series of trials and errors. Robert buys _ Dog training for dummies _and Liv calls him a nerd, but both she and Aaron end up reading parts of the book at some point. They take turns: Aaron and Liv walk him every day, Robert feeds him in the mornings because he’s the earliest riser, and also because Aaron doesn’t get past a grumble when they can already hear the dog barking or wreaking havoc downstairs. All three of them lose sleep at some point while trying to get Brad to spend the whole night on his own, preferably in his bed. But training him to “do stuff,” as Robert calls it, proves to be the hardest part. There’s a lot of scolding and cleaning while they try to make Brad get used to doing it outside, when they take him out, or at least on the disposable pad on the few occasions that they can’t. Both Vanessa and Paddy try to remind them that it’s usual for puppies to take time to learn that, but sometimes Robert has to control his temper when he sees the state of the walls and the kitchen cabinets when he gets home. 

Turns out that having and taking care of a dog is just like Aaron said: a lot of work and time and money. Robert’s the one taking him for his scheduled shots and check-ups, but he doesn’t really mind it that much. He also keeps in mind that it’s worth it: Aaron’s been smiling more lately, they’ve all been getting more exercise, and Seb has had too much fun trying to play with the dog as if it were a toy. Brad keeps eating more and more and growing too much in too little time, so sometimes Robert will still fear for Seb-- what if the dog bites him because Seb hurt him, even if it was unintentionally? But whenever he tries to talk about that with Aaron, his husband just calls him some variation of muppet and tells him they’re all gonna keep training Brad until he might actually become a guard dog like so many Pits do. But Aaron also wants to give him lots of love and let Seb play with him, so he’s the most patient when it comes to dealing with Brad’s occasional bad behavior.

That is, until Robert comes home one day to a lot of whining and barking. The noise comes from the ground floor bathroom, where Brad has apparently been locked, though it doesn’t stop him from trying to get out: he scratches and scratches at the door as if that would work.

Aaron is sitting at the couch, a serious look on his face, his arms crossed over his broad chest. Walking and going for short runs with their dog has done him wonders; Robert marvels at another of the many rewards that getting his family a dog has given him. He looks over Aaron’s body appreciatively, even if Aaron’s mood might be sour at the moment. Robert’s dealt with worse from his grumpy husband who he loves no matter what.

“What did he do this time?” he asks, moving to the back of the couch and bending down to give Aaron a peck on the cheek. His hands are on Aaron’s neck, and his fingers work on it until Aaron sighs, finally uncrossing his arms and closing his eyes. Robert smiles from behind him, loving to feel him relax under his touch. 

“You don’t wanna know,” Aaron says. He hums and then sighs again, Robert’s fingers finding and working on a knotted spot under the edge of his hairline until it starts to loosen up. He bends down again, this time to kiss Aaron’s forehead. He hears before he sees Aaron’s smile, his eyes looking up at Robert’s. “Hi,” he finally greets him, and Robert answers him with a kiss on the lips.

Brad hasn’t stopped trying to destroy the bathroom door or vocalizing his distress at being locked up and away from his family, so Robert holds back from snogging Aaron to ask him about what happened again. Aaron grumbles and sighs in exasperation but Robert goes back to massaging him, so he ends up telling Robert about how he took Brad for a walk, played fetch with him using a stick on the way back home, and went upstairs for a much needed shower. Aaron had forgotten to close the door to their bedroom door, so it turns out they need to buy a new pair of pillows, take their best blanket to a very good laundry service, and also one of Robert’s favorite shirts was turned to shreds.

“Which one?” Robert asks, hoping it’s not the midnight blue that looks like a starry sky, cause he’s been secretly calling that his Lucky One. He had been wearing that on the night that he and Aaron had gotten back together-- for the nth time, but also the final one, the one that mattered the most. 

Aaron shrugs. “Light blue, full of tiny crosses or summat.” 

Robert checks a sigh of relief; he liked that one too, but well, gotta count your blessings and all that. He had left it on the bed earlier that day, choosing to wear a white one under his marine suit instead. “Okay... But you know that locking Brad up won’t make him learn anything, right?”

Aaron rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to always follow that damn book.” He sounds tired, and Robert gets it, he does, but still, he pities the dog despite himself. 

“How long has he been in there?”

“No longer than ten minutes. Turns out he’s a drama bitch just like _ someone _ in this house.”

Robert breathes in and breathes out slowly. He knows when Aaron’s in a sour mood and his words don’t hold meaning, so he just pats his shoulders and leaves him be instead of rising to the bait. “Can I let him out?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

The scratching stops when Robert gets close to the door, and the whining is replaced by an expectant bark. Robert can picture his tail wagging, and sure enough, when he opens the door he’s met with a surprisingly patient pup, sitting on his hind legs instead of jumping at him like Robert had expected him to do. “I guess you know you’ve been bad, huh?” Robert tries to sound like he’s scolding him, but despite his usual patience with the growing beast, Aaron’s actually better at that than any of them. He chances a look at Aaron, but he’s still pretending not to acknowledge the dog’s presence or the sounds he makes, which are now a quiet whine followed by another excited bark. “You really annoyed our Aaron, eh? Gotta make up for that. How about I give you one of those huge bones you like and you leave him alone for now?” 

“You’re making it sound like _ I’m _ the one who did something wrong here,” Aaron says. Robert can practically hear his eye-roll. 

“In dog world, you probably did,” Robert says. Then he gives Brad the promised bone, and the dog runs around with it before lying down in front of Aaron, pressing the toy against his leg. 

Robert sees the eye-roll this time, but Aaron eventually gives in, and before long it seems to be all good: Liv comes downstairs and joins Aaron in watching TV while playing with Brad, and Robert listens to them through many a smile while making tea. 

But when they go upstairs, Robert’s not proud of the sound he makes as he sees the actual state of their bedroom. Aaron’s teasing stare is full of _ I-told-you-so_, but he helps clean up the mess. They borrow Seb’s pillows that night, which are too small but better than nothing. Robert says he’ll buy new ones the following day, but Aaron’s already halfway to sleep by then. 

xxx

There’s sunlight filtering in through the curtains when Robert wakes up and he turns his back on it with a groan, closing his eyes tight and pretending not to hear Aaron’s quiet chuckle from somewhere around the room. He had gotten home late after a meeting with a client, and Brad had awoken and been ready to play, so Robert had entertained him for a while in the hopes he’d calm down before he finally came upstairs to a sleepy Aaron.

“Whatchadoin’ up?” Robert murmurs around the pillow, not caring at all that it sounds like he’s whining. Aaron should know better than to leave the bed on a Saturday morning, at least not before Robert is up himself, not before they’ve both had their fill of each other. He pulls the covers up to his chin and sighs, blinking a few times until he can focus on Aaron a few meters away, in running gear. 

Aaron is grinning at him, the mocking edge softened by the fondness in his eyes. “Taking our dog for a walk, old man.”

“At this ungodly hour?!” 

Aaron laughs. “It’s way past eight now, Robert.” He comes to sit by the bed, his right thigh at Robert’s reach, so he touches it, feeling the muscle through the sweatpants. Aaron is still smiling, so Robert returns it, closing his eyes when his husband starts running a hand through his hair, pulling it back from his forehead. “You could get up and make us breakfast for when I get back,” he says, fingers now on Robert’s neck, and it’s a dirty trick to ask for something when he’s doing that to Robert, who shifts and stretches and tries to keep his eyes open just to look at his husband. “Hmmm. Still tired, aren’t ya?”

Robert nods, though he’s stirred by that lower dip in Aaron’s voice. He sighs in contentment as Aaron’s hand circles lightly around his throat before moving down slowly to his chest, down to his belly and then up again, this time under the pj shirt, and Robert kicks the covers off because Aaron should go lower now. But Aaron leaves his hand there, warm against Robert’s skin, bright blue eyes full of promises of later. 

“It’s gonna take a while for me to get back; after the walk I’m taking Brad to see Vanessa so he can get his scheduled shot.”

“So I _ could _ just stay in bed and wait for you.” He takes hold of Aaron’s free hand, his fingers light on the skin just under Aaron’s palm, ghosting up his wrist. It makes Aaron’s breath sound deeper for a moment, that same hand still on Robert’s belly now going up to pinch at his nipple. “ _Aaron_,” he gasps, gripping at his arm, wanting more--

“Later, Rob,” Aaron moves to get up, but _no_, he's not getting away with this easily. Robert pulls him back, pulls him down and straddles him while Aaron guffaws and tries to fight him off. They both know he could, but what counts is the fact that he doesn't. So Robert takes his fill, holds Aaron's arms above his head and bends down to plant a kiss at the corner of his mouth, morning breath be damned. They've fucked like this many times before, either kissing with closed lips or ignoring the taste because the hunger and need far surpassed that nonsense. 

Aaron grimaces, wriggles a little under him, blue blown into dark as his eyes look at Robert's very, very smug ones. They're both hard, Robert grinding against him as his tongue pokes just under Aaron's scruffy jaw. Then he bites at it gently, bites at his neck a little harder and smiles because Aaron has given up all pretense of fighting this. Good, he thinks, because he's gonna take his time, and he's gonna make it so Aaron will think twice about running afterwards. Or not think of it at all.

(He ignores the insistent knocking at their door a few minutes later, Liv calling for Aaron and saying something about a barking dog downstairs. When they’re done, he sends her a text promising her five quid so she’ll take Brad out instead of Aaron.

She asks for ten or she’ll teach the dog how to climb the stairs.)

xxx

Robert hears it as soon as he opens the door into the living room-- Seb's loud squealing, followed by muffled laughter that must be coming from Aaron. His own grin is wide as he hangs his coat by the door and moves quietly to leave his bag on the sofa and look for them. He spots Seb walking towards the kitchen table, stopping to do this kind of dance of giddiness before one of the chairs, and then there's a loud bark followed by another chuckle.

"Found Daddy!" Seb exclaims, his high pitched voice almost muffled by another bark. He's not talking to Robert, though-- hasn't even noticed him yet. It's Aaron he's talking to-- Aaron, hidden under the table, Brad's third bark and wagging tail giving him away.

Robert tries not to, but he ends up laughing and that does it-- Seb hears him and the surprise or scare has him losing his balance and falling on his bum. Robert moves to go for him, but Brad is faster-- he's licking all over Seb's face before Robert can even say his son's name.

"Brad, stop!" Aaron says, and he shoots an apologizing glance at Robert as he moves from under the kitchen table to pull at Brad's collar, the dog now almost as big as their son. Brad pays him no mind, fueled by Seb's giggling even as the boy tries to repeat Aaron's words. It comes out as _ Baad, Stop!_, the R still a difficult letter for him. 

Robert is surprised when Brad sits right after that. Aaron is laughing behind the hand over his mouth. 

"Well... Looks like he found his alpha," Robert deadpans, shaking his head even as he feels himself smiling. 

"Yeah, he kept giving away my spot when I tried to hide from Seb," Aaron says. His eyes are full of what looks like pure happiness and mischief, and Robert goes to him, gives him a kiss and puts an arm around his waist. They're both looking at Seb. 

"Hi there, little man. Had fun today?" Robert asks, feeling his heart expand at the sight of his son-- their son-- holding on to a chair while trying to get up by himself. 

"Yes, yes, Daddy!" he says, still full of excitement as he walks over to the dog and tentatively pulls at one of his ears.

"Seb, no." Robert warns, and Aaron rolls his eyes.

"He's not gonna bite him."

"I know that," Robert says, though he frowns cause _ that _ thought hadn't even crossed his mind yet. He has actually noticed that Brad seems to be protective of Seb, and sometimes Liv. Besides the book Robert bought, Aaron’s also been reading more on Pitbulls, and Robert’s been trying to keep his mind open. "Still doesn't give Seb the excuse to be mean to him."

Aaron looks at him, lips turning up at the corners. "So you like him now?"

“I never said I didn’t.” Robert knows he sounds a little defensive, but it’s true. “I was just never that fond of dogs before. But he makes you lot happy, doesn't he?"

Aaron moves just a tad closer to Robert. Keeps looking at him until Robert looks back. "Yeah. He does."

xxx


End file.
